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Moscow will shoot down any U.S. missiles fired at Syria and retaliate against American launch sites, the Russian ambassador to Lebanon has warned. Ambassador Alexander Zasypkin made the comments on Tuesday while speaking on the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar TV channel, Reuters reported. President Donald Trump is currently considering military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad following Saturday’s suspected chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Douma near the capital city of Damascus. Medical relief groups say the attack killed dozens of civilians.

Isaiah 17:1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts. 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness...

Oil prices soared on Wednesday morning after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted earlier in the day that Russia would better “get ready” for U.S. missiles in Syria. At 08:33 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, WTI Crude was above $66 and Brent—above the $71 mark. WTI Crude was up 0.92 percent to $66.12, while Brent Crude had jumped 0.87 percent at $71.66. “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys...

Cape Town is in the unenviable situation of being the first major city in the modern era to face the threat of running out of drinking water. However, the plight of the drought-hit South African city is just one extreme example of a problem that experts have long been warning about - water scarcity. Despite covering about 70% of the Earth's surface, water, especially drinking water, is not as plentiful as one might think. Only 3% of it is fresh. Over one billion people lack access to water and another 2.7 billion find it scarce for at least one month...

The dominant narrative of modern Middle East history emphasizes European colonization and accepts as a truism that the former colonial powers prioritized the protection of their material interests—in oil, above all—above the dignity and self-determination of the region’s inhabitants. --Thus did botched decolonization result in endless instability...Thus did the region become a breeding ground for radicalism, intensified by Cold War rivalry between the superpowers, who replaced the European colonizers as the region’s meddling overlords...Then came Mikhail Gorbachev—a Westernizing reformer. At last, the Cold War was over. A new world order was at hand. What if this conventional wisdom is nonsense?...

US President Donald Trump has promised a "forceful" response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria, as Western leaders consider what action to take. "We have a lot of options militarily," he told reporters. He added that a response would be decided "shortly". Mr Trump said the US was getting some "good clarity" on who was responsible for the incident in Douma on Saturday. Medical sources say dozens were killed in the alleged attack but exact numbers are impossible to verify. Mr Trump also discussed the incident with French President Emmanuel Macron late on Monday, and both leaders expressed a...

The violent aspect of the worrisome radicalization of the Turkish diaspora with a heavy dose of nationalist and Islamist ideology has been personally driven by President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, who publicly rewards mischief and unashamedly glorifies vigilante behavior among expatriate communities. As a result, the Turkish president is setting up a very dangerous path for many to follow on the violent trajectory while unleashing beasts to wreak havoc in host countries.Just this week, ErdoÄŸan personally called Turkish national Yusuf Ãœnsal, who was detained by German police for his interference in a protest in Stuttgart against the Turkish governmentÂ’s military offensive...

First off, by waiting to strike, the U.S. keeps Syrian air defense forces in a state of very high readiness and forces Assad to continue guessing whether the U.S. knows where his high-value assets have been relocated. At the tactical level (front line Syrian military units) and strategic level (Assad and his commanders), the U.S. approach here means significant stress and abundant fear. This matters because effective military force and strategy is largely determined by the ability of individuals to operate effectively. But if individuals are fearful and exhausted, their operability will suffer. Even if marginally, this mitigates the threat...

When the U.S. takes military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad for his chemical weapons attack last Saturday, Russia is unlikely to retaliate. Two factors underline why. First off, the Russians do not want to associate themselves with what Assad has done. Putin doesn't like the public relations aftermath he is now suffering. In turn, while Putin is employing his standard distraction-deception-threat strategy in an attempt to shield Assad from blame, his eye is on other agendas. Notably, avoiding new sanctions targeting Moscow and ensuring that the upcoming soccer World Cup — which Putin sees as critical to attract much-needed...

With all eyes on Israel’s southern front where Hamas is desperately trying to conceal the fact it has run out of military options in its never ending war against the Jewish State, Hezbollah and the pro-Assad axis seem to be gearing up for the long anticipated confrontation with the IDF. Iranian and Israeli media reported last week that the pro-Assad coalition is preparing for an offensive against Islamist rebel groups in the Kuneitra and Daraa provinces in southern Syria. The pro-Assad axis, which includes Hezbollah and other Shiite militias, has reportedly deployed tanks and heavy artillery on the Syrian Golan...

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed Russia over a deadly chemical attack on Syrian civilians, saying the country's hands are "covered in blood." "The Russian regime, whose hands are all covered in the blood of Syrian children, cannot be ashamed by pictures of its victims," Haley said during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday. "We must not overlook Russia and Iran's roles in enabling the Assad regime's murderous destruction," she continued.

Pan-European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol on Tuesday warned airlines to exercise caution in the eastern Mediterranean due to the possible launch of air strikes into Syria in next 72 hours. Eurocontrol said that air-to-ground and/or cruise missiles could be used within that period and there was a possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment. Russia and the United States tangled on Tuesday at the United Nations over the use of chemical weapons in Syria as Washington and its allies considered whether to strike at President Bashar al-Assad's forces over a suspected poison gas attack last weekend. "Due consideration...

US President Donald Trump’s “major decision” on Syria is contingent on the rallying of sufficient air and naval strength and allied participation. Military sources report that the only US warship immediately available for the promised US military response to Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons in Douma is the guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook, which sailed from Larnaca Monday, April 9, on its way to the eastern Mediterranean. The USS Iwo Jima strike group, which visited Haifa last month, is now cruising in the Arabian Sea, days away from the scene, whereas the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group...

Later today the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution that Russia will cast a "NO' vote on setting the state for military action. President Trump told reporters at the White House last evening that the United States was getting "good clarity" on who was responsible for what happened in Syria last Saturday. Trump spoke of "Syria, Russia and Iran" in connection with the incident. In February Trump spoke at a news conference with the then visiting Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. "what Russia and what Iran and what Syria have done recently is a humanitarian disgrace....

A major leg of the Ezekiel 38-39 Gog-Magog coalition is coming into view. The Turkey leg is now, undeniably in the estimation of many students of prophecy, on the end-times table of Bible prophecy. We are given the nations that will make up that attacking force by the prophet Ezekiel. Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:And I will turn thee back, and put...

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the Israeli army's use of force against Palestinians at protests inside the Gaza Strip was unacceptable. Palestinian demonstrations, which began on March 30, have been dubbed "The Great March of Return" of refugees and their descendants to ancestral homes now in Israel. In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry criticized what it described as Israel's "indiscriminate use of force against the civilian population." Earlier on Monday, Russia's Defense Ministry accused Israel of carrying out airstrikes against a Syrian air base on Sunday following an alleged chemical weapons attack against civilians.

The worst anti-Semitic hate crime of 2018 took place outside a restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio. Izmir Koch, an Ahiska Turkish migrant who had already been in trouble with the law, allegedly demanded to know if there were any Jews around. A man who been at the restaurant replied that he was Jewish. Izmir punched him in the head, and then kicked him while he lay on the ground. The victim, who wasn’t actually Jewish, suffered bruised ribs and a fractured eye socket. Now a federal grand jury has indicted Izmir for committing a hate crime. The violent assault was the...

Russian officials claim the Israeli Air Force is responsible for a missile strike on a Syrian airbase carried out early Monday, just two days after the Assad regime killed 42 civilians in a chemical gas attack that sparked international outrage. The Russian Defense Ministry told state media that two Israeli F-15 fighter jets fired eight guided missiles at the Tiyas base from Lebanese airspace, while pro-Assad Syrian media reported 20 missiles were fired. Israeli officials refused to comment the strike, which killed 14 military personnel, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Israel previously attacked Tiyas, known as the...

If the Huffington Post is to be believed, a bigoted Prime Minister in Hungary is leading the nation in a dangerous, ultra-right direction, to the consternation of the populace. If the election results are to be believed, a courageous Hungarian leader is standing against a sea of political correctness, with the support of the populace. I’d say in this case, the Hungarian people have a better sense of reality than does the Huffington Post.Sunday’s elections resulted in a decisive win for Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party. (This will mark Orban’s third consecutive term.) It was also a victory against Hungarian-born...

You cannot make this stuff up. Groups of Palestinians in Gaza lit hundreds of tires on fire last Friday during the second weekend of a six-week-long planned protest in the border region between Israel and the coastal enclave. The protesters lit the tires in order to blur the vision of soldiers in the region and attempt to prevent them from opening fire, according to a Gaza-based source. “We have been informed by the Israeli side that imports of tires have been halted until further notice,” Muhammad Hamdan, a spokesman for the PA Transportation Ministry told The Jerusalem Post. In the...